Why do kids love slime? Because it is satisfying to:
See
fun colors and can make into shapes
Touch
has texture/elasticity
Smell
variety of sweet and floral aromas
Hear
snapping or popping sounds
Slime satisfies 4 out of our 5 basic senses.
Senses are how we enjoy life.
Not only does my kid like making and playing with slime, she likes talking about. She chats with her friends and watches videos describing satisfying slime.
Kids like to talk about how they feel (what they see, smell or taste). When talking about flavors with kids, I bring bottles and aroma blotters. I do not tell them what they … [Read more...]

Petition Granted
Earlier this month, FDA granted a partial petition to not allow the following synthetic flavor substances in food. In parentheses are the flavors I remember using them in.
beta Myrcene ( mango, orange, mint)
Methyl Eugenol (raspberry)
Ethyl acrylate (rum and egg nog)
Pulegone (mint)
Pyridine
Benzophenone
Checklists
These substances are on customer's "checklists". Checklists are disclosures food manufacturers need from ingredient suppliers before they buy flavors. They are helpful communication tools. Usually, there is a column for the flavor developer to disclose the amount added and another column for disclosing the amount present. The amount present is how much is added as part of an ingredient … [Read more...]

My Fear
Acetaldehyde FEMA 2003 is an aroma chemical that I am scared of. Why? Because I did not follow standard lab safety protocol. I sniffed a bottle of acetaldehyde 100% (neat) directly. (Never, never smell a bottle directly in a laboratory!!! Use the "wafting technique". )
What happened? I nearly passed out and I fell into a chair. I felt sick, had trouble standing up and lost my sense of smell for awhile. This is my only encounter with neat acetaldehyde (20 plus years ago). Now, I avoid it like a child avoids a burner after touching a hot stove. I am afraid of it.
Confronting my Fears
Occasionally, I decide I have to use acetaldehyde because it is important in good flavors. Many flavors benefit from acetaldehyde: whiskey flavor, … [Read more...]

Flavors and Pesticides
Does anyone else think it's fascinating that essential oils can be flavors as well as pesticides?
Some people find it alarming. This week, a law firm in Cook County, Illinois alleged that LaCroix was adding pesticide chemicals such as linalool to their products. They also allege that the "all natural" label on La Croix is fraudulent. This made for an eye-catching news headline in USA Today:
"LaCroix faces lawsuit for allegedly including cockroach insecticide in its sparkling water"
I looked into the status of linalool with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA is the federal agency that regulates pesticides and administers the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).
The status of … [Read more...]

Angry Bosses
I've faced lots of angry bosses. Angry because sometimes they have to make difficult risk decisions.
Tough Situations:
Informing a new manager that products are out of compliance with tax regulations.
Receiving a customer complaint because the flavor ruined their product.
Receiving a customer complaint that product is spoiled.
Notifying "the most responsible person" (boss) at food-producing business that:
Your product tested positive for pathogens.
Your product is associated with consumer illness.
You received potentially harmful product from a food manufacturer.
In general, the common link between all these encounters is respect for the boss who is responsible for making a difficult decision … [Read more...]

FlavorScientist.com got hacked. I am angry, frustrated and sad about this.
The Hack
People searching the internet eager to find more information on slime scents, fruit punch or cherry flavor were maliciously sent to a website where they could purchase cheap Viagra.
WordPress plug-ins provide an option to pay $150-$300 to fix redirect hacks, but the outcome is questionable. Correspondence with these plug-in developers are one-sided. I am leery of plug-ins which provide options to pay but no in-depth details on outcome. Have they fixed this problem on other websites or are they just preying on my vulnerability and desperation?
Finally, my husband (computer guru) intervened and flavorscientist.com is now "clean". You should not be … [Read more...]

Pacific Science Center
In an unusual turn of events, my 14-year-old has proclaimed she learned something from her mom. Prior conversations involved me being told I am mean and know nothing.
So does this mean that my teen daughter has matured and appreciates her mom's wisdom?
Not exactly, she learned at my STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) presentations that our noses are responsible for allowing us to sense food's flavor. Therefore, when I insisted she "at least try " the slaw I made for dinner the other night, she proclaimed she learned something useful from mom and ate the slaw while plugging her nose.
She knew if she did this she would avoid sensing the slaw's flavor.
The Sense of Smell
We can only … [Read more...]

Lemon flavor is great tasting, simple and environmentally friendly. The lemon oil we use to formulate flavors is extracted from lemon peel by cold pressing it from the rinds.
Lemon Oil
Typically this oil contains:
Limonene: 75%, Citral 10%, as well as Terpinene, alpha-Pinene, beta-Pinene, Heptanal, Octanal, Nonanal, Decanal, Undecanal, l-Linalool, alpha-Terpineol and 4-Terpineol.
Citral, however, is the characterizing component of lemon oil. Most people say Citral reminds them of Lemon Pledge®. Flavor chemists carefully select oils that are desireable, fresh and juicy, and not flat, like furniture polish.
Stability of Lemon Flavor
Lemon flavor has a reputation for being unstable. This is primarily because of Citral, which is … [Read more...]

Flavoring peanut butter is challenging
A memorable project assigned to me is grape flavored peanut butter. A large peanut butter manufacturer asked my company to supply some grape flavor samples for the project. My mentor, Mr. Takeda, who entered the United States from Japan on a work visa, was confused about the project. Peanut butter and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are popular in the States, but not Japan or other countries. Since I grew up on peanut butter and grape jelly sandwiches and not Onigiri (Japenese rice balls) my input on the project was needed.
Mr. Takeda went to his formula book and selected a few grape flavors for me to collect and try in peanut butter. He chose the strongest artificial oil soluble grape flavors for … [Read more...]